Trash or Treasure - The Cardinals 13
Jul 8, 2023 10:20:53 GMT -5
Commissioner Erick and Zigmo-Whitesox like this
Post by stlgm on Jul 8, 2023 10:20:53 GMT -5
During the 2029 season, the Cardinals introduced their hybrid pitching staff to the league. Most disregarded it as a gimmick that wouldn't last, but in year two, the team seems to have figured it out. In 2030, St. Louis finished ranked first in the NL in runs allowed and following an 18 game winning streak that has propelled the Wild Card team into the NLCS, the league is buzzing. Some experts are saying this is the future of baseball, while others are saying they're ruining the game of baseball with their "trashpen." While the Cardinals take a week off awaiting the winner of the Dodgers-Phillies series, we were able to sit down with Cardinals Assistant General Manager Gabe Hemmer to discuss why the team chose the 13 pitchers they did to make this run.
Geoff Paschen: Congratulation on this run, Gabe. While the numbers have been phenomenal, I'm sure you hear the critics. Some are saying it's luck, others saying it's not sustainable, some are even saying the league needs to look into changing the rules for 2031 to stop you from ruining baseball. What are your thoughts?
Gabe Hemmer: Thanks Geoff. There will always be critics, and that's fine. To say we're ruining baseball though, that's just short-sighted. It's evolution. The game has been constantly evolving for nearly 200 years. It's 2030, we have so many stats and analytics at our disposal, why should we be punished for using those analytics to give our team the best chance to win? I won't get too much into the strategy as I'm still in the business of competing and winning...but it's fairly common knowledge that every time a pitcher goes through the lineup, the batters have a higher success rate. So it would make sense that we limit our pitchers to only one time through the lineup.
GP: What would you say to the people that have labeled your pitching staff as the "trashpen?"
GH: One man's trash is another man's treasure.
GP: Let's go through your staff, now being called by the media as the "Cardinals 13." I'll just go through the roster in alphabetical order and you tell me what you saw in them to bring them to the team. Let's start with Ryan Castellani, who had a career-best 3.67 ERA this season for the Cardinals.
GH: Most people see Ryan as a career journeyman, AAAA talent. We saw a guy that was played for some really bad teams in Detroit and Miami. He's a hard worker, three great pitches including that curve. He also has a knack at keeping the ball in the park. He's not a journeyman, he's a pitcher that was wasted on bad teams.
GP: What about Hans Crouse?
GH: Crouse was also hurt by being surrounded by a lack of talent. He's a power pitcher that keeps the ball in the park, but if the guys behind him can't field, he'll suffer just like anyone else that pitches to contact. His career ERA is a full run higher than his career FIP, Detroit just didn't take care of him. Plus he's a great presence in the clubhouse.
GP: Jake Eder has had a sub-3 ERA in his two full seasons with St. Louis, why?
GH: Eder was a solid bullpen arm in San Francisco for five seasons. Sub-4 ERA and FIP. But again, he's not flashy...so teams ignored him the entire offseason. We were happy to snatch him up, let him hone his craft in 2028 before calling him up for 2029.
GP: Okay, well explain to me Brusdar Graterol. He was 30 years old and never played in PBA when you selected him in the Rule V draft.
GH: It's simple, Brus was very good for four straight seasons in Triple A in the Cincinnati organization and never once got a chance. 3.16 ERA and 3.19 FIP in 400+ innings. But because he only throws in the low-90s, no one ever noticed him.
GP: I'm guessing the same for Hagey then?
GH: Yeah, look at his last season in Cleveland's organization. Sub-3 ERA and 11-plus strikeouts per nine innings for the AAA team. Lefty, great locker room presence, and the ability to strike out anyone in the lineup.
GP: Denyi Reyes joined St. Louis as apart of the Mauricio deal and went on to win Pitcher of the Month in August.
GH: Reyes somehow was forgotten about and had to play in the Meridian League for two seasons, during the first season he was arguably the best player in the entire league. He returned to PBA with a bad Washington team and actually put together a league average season, which is remarkable on that team. He followed that up with a good start to 2030 for the White Sox, so we were excited when we were able to land him in that trade. He's a change up from the rest of our staff, relying less on strikeouts and more on his pinpoint control. He doesn't make mistakes.
GP: In what may have been the biggest bargain of the season in hindsight, you signed Sixto Sanchez to a minor league deal this past May and immediately slotted him onto the big league roster. What did you see that no one else did?
GH: He's been miscast. Teams kept forcing him into the rotation when he's really a two pitch pitcher. Not that he was a bad starter, around league average. But with his arsenal and talent, he is much more effective in smaller doses.
GP: Despite his struggles against division rival Milwaukee, you traded for Joe Shilts two seasons ago.
GH: Shilts is the perfect fit for this style. Extremely talented pitcher and has five pitches in his arsenal, but he doesn't have the stamina to go six innings straight. But for three innings, he can bring all of his energy and batters never have a chance to time his pitches with so many options coming at them.
GP: Another 30+ year old drafted in the Rule V, we have Nick Vespi...
GH: Vespi's last real opportunity in PBA was in 2024 when he had a 3.75 ERA and struck out nearly 10 batters per nine innings over 120 innings. Then he was inexplicably forgotten about, tucked away in AAA from 2025 to 2028 where he pitched very well. Much like Graterol, he was well worth a no-strings-attached Rule V draft selection.
GP: That brings us to our first actual home-grown talent, 2026 third round pick Justin Welsh.
GH: We were so excited when Welsh was available to us in the third round. He already had a solid base to work with, and knew as a 18 year old, he should only get better. Great attitude, this season has been a bit of a roller coaster for Welsh, but he should have a long, successful career ahead of him.
GP: There's one other home-grown talent on this staff, and that's 2027 first round pick Rich Whitt.
GH: What's funny about Whitt is he was the forgotten arm in our farm. Everyone talked about Detres, Medina, Yera, McGurk...but Whitt is so good. Five-plus pitches, makes batters miss, and if they make contact it's usually staying in the infield. Plus the intangibles, when our backs are against the wall, he's in the clubhouse rallying the troops. He deserves more respect.
GP: Onto our final Rule V pick, lefty Jarod Widdison.
GH: Not enough can be said about Widdy. He's had a sub-3 ERA now for three straight seasons and is just 25 years old. I don't really know why Seattle didn't protect him in the Rule V draft after he dominated in AA as a 22 year old, or how he slipped to us in the third round of the Rule V. But the results speak for themselves.
GP: Last, but certainly not least, Chris Yera gets most of the attention from experts thanks to his electric stuff and regularly hitting 100+ with his fastball.
GH: I don't think I need to explain why we love Yera. When we acquired him from Minnesota, we had concern about what his role looked like in the big leagues. Keep in mind, this was before we decided to change our pitching strategy. He had all of the tools to be an ace, but struggled to even get through four innings without wearing out. We tried stretching him deeper into games in the minors, but it just didn't work. Three innings and out is perfect for Yera, who able to impact many more games and still get 140 innings of work.
GP: Thanks for you time Gabe, good luck in the NLCS.
Geoff Paschen: Congratulation on this run, Gabe. While the numbers have been phenomenal, I'm sure you hear the critics. Some are saying it's luck, others saying it's not sustainable, some are even saying the league needs to look into changing the rules for 2031 to stop you from ruining baseball. What are your thoughts?
Gabe Hemmer: Thanks Geoff. There will always be critics, and that's fine. To say we're ruining baseball though, that's just short-sighted. It's evolution. The game has been constantly evolving for nearly 200 years. It's 2030, we have so many stats and analytics at our disposal, why should we be punished for using those analytics to give our team the best chance to win? I won't get too much into the strategy as I'm still in the business of competing and winning...but it's fairly common knowledge that every time a pitcher goes through the lineup, the batters have a higher success rate. So it would make sense that we limit our pitchers to only one time through the lineup.
GP: What would you say to the people that have labeled your pitching staff as the "trashpen?"
GH: One man's trash is another man's treasure.
GP: Let's go through your staff, now being called by the media as the "Cardinals 13." I'll just go through the roster in alphabetical order and you tell me what you saw in them to bring them to the team. Let's start with Ryan Castellani, who had a career-best 3.67 ERA this season for the Cardinals.
GH: Most people see Ryan as a career journeyman, AAAA talent. We saw a guy that was played for some really bad teams in Detroit and Miami. He's a hard worker, three great pitches including that curve. He also has a knack at keeping the ball in the park. He's not a journeyman, he's a pitcher that was wasted on bad teams.
GP: What about Hans Crouse?
GH: Crouse was also hurt by being surrounded by a lack of talent. He's a power pitcher that keeps the ball in the park, but if the guys behind him can't field, he'll suffer just like anyone else that pitches to contact. His career ERA is a full run higher than his career FIP, Detroit just didn't take care of him. Plus he's a great presence in the clubhouse.
GP: Jake Eder has had a sub-3 ERA in his two full seasons with St. Louis, why?
GH: Eder was a solid bullpen arm in San Francisco for five seasons. Sub-4 ERA and FIP. But again, he's not flashy...so teams ignored him the entire offseason. We were happy to snatch him up, let him hone his craft in 2028 before calling him up for 2029.
GP: Okay, well explain to me Brusdar Graterol. He was 30 years old and never played in PBA when you selected him in the Rule V draft.
GH: It's simple, Brus was very good for four straight seasons in Triple A in the Cincinnati organization and never once got a chance. 3.16 ERA and 3.19 FIP in 400+ innings. But because he only throws in the low-90s, no one ever noticed him.
GP: I'm guessing the same for Hagey then?
GH: Yeah, look at his last season in Cleveland's organization. Sub-3 ERA and 11-plus strikeouts per nine innings for the AAA team. Lefty, great locker room presence, and the ability to strike out anyone in the lineup.
GP: Denyi Reyes joined St. Louis as apart of the Mauricio deal and went on to win Pitcher of the Month in August.
GH: Reyes somehow was forgotten about and had to play in the Meridian League for two seasons, during the first season he was arguably the best player in the entire league. He returned to PBA with a bad Washington team and actually put together a league average season, which is remarkable on that team. He followed that up with a good start to 2030 for the White Sox, so we were excited when we were able to land him in that trade. He's a change up from the rest of our staff, relying less on strikeouts and more on his pinpoint control. He doesn't make mistakes.
GP: In what may have been the biggest bargain of the season in hindsight, you signed Sixto Sanchez to a minor league deal this past May and immediately slotted him onto the big league roster. What did you see that no one else did?
GH: He's been miscast. Teams kept forcing him into the rotation when he's really a two pitch pitcher. Not that he was a bad starter, around league average. But with his arsenal and talent, he is much more effective in smaller doses.
GP: Despite his struggles against division rival Milwaukee, you traded for Joe Shilts two seasons ago.
GH: Shilts is the perfect fit for this style. Extremely talented pitcher and has five pitches in his arsenal, but he doesn't have the stamina to go six innings straight. But for three innings, he can bring all of his energy and batters never have a chance to time his pitches with so many options coming at them.
GP: Another 30+ year old drafted in the Rule V, we have Nick Vespi...
GH: Vespi's last real opportunity in PBA was in 2024 when he had a 3.75 ERA and struck out nearly 10 batters per nine innings over 120 innings. Then he was inexplicably forgotten about, tucked away in AAA from 2025 to 2028 where he pitched very well. Much like Graterol, he was well worth a no-strings-attached Rule V draft selection.
GP: That brings us to our first actual home-grown talent, 2026 third round pick Justin Welsh.
GH: We were so excited when Welsh was available to us in the third round. He already had a solid base to work with, and knew as a 18 year old, he should only get better. Great attitude, this season has been a bit of a roller coaster for Welsh, but he should have a long, successful career ahead of him.
GP: There's one other home-grown talent on this staff, and that's 2027 first round pick Rich Whitt.
GH: What's funny about Whitt is he was the forgotten arm in our farm. Everyone talked about Detres, Medina, Yera, McGurk...but Whitt is so good. Five-plus pitches, makes batters miss, and if they make contact it's usually staying in the infield. Plus the intangibles, when our backs are against the wall, he's in the clubhouse rallying the troops. He deserves more respect.
GP: Onto our final Rule V pick, lefty Jarod Widdison.
GH: Not enough can be said about Widdy. He's had a sub-3 ERA now for three straight seasons and is just 25 years old. I don't really know why Seattle didn't protect him in the Rule V draft after he dominated in AA as a 22 year old, or how he slipped to us in the third round of the Rule V. But the results speak for themselves.
GP: Last, but certainly not least, Chris Yera gets most of the attention from experts thanks to his electric stuff and regularly hitting 100+ with his fastball.
GH: I don't think I need to explain why we love Yera. When we acquired him from Minnesota, we had concern about what his role looked like in the big leagues. Keep in mind, this was before we decided to change our pitching strategy. He had all of the tools to be an ace, but struggled to even get through four innings without wearing out. We tried stretching him deeper into games in the minors, but it just didn't work. Three innings and out is perfect for Yera, who able to impact many more games and still get 140 innings of work.
GP: Thanks for you time Gabe, good luck in the NLCS.